Etc...

September 15, 2004

By Compiled from wire service reports by Robert Kilborn and Ross Atkin

Aha! What do we have here?

How often, when you've been out and about, have you spied a coin in your path ... and not bothered to pick it up because it turned out to be only a lowly penny? But consider the experience of an unidentified Briton who was walking his dog along a bank of the River Ivel in Bedfordshire. He did trouble himself to pick up the penny at his feet. And as a result it may soon reward him out of all proportion to its face value. Experts have identified it as the only known coin bearing the name of Coenwulf of Mercia, a king who ruled a region of central England from 796 to 821 AD. Because it's also in excellent condition, auctioneers in London expect it to fetch more than $210,000 - perhaps far more - when it goes under the gavel next month.

New form of US aid comes with strings attached

Placing foreign aid on more than just a needs basis is central to the Millenium Challenge Account, an idea proposed by the Bush administration 2-1/2 years ago. For a struggling nation to be eligible for the $1 billion that Congress has appropriated for the first year of the fund (which is soon to make its first outlays) its leaders must demonstrate a commitment to governing justly, promoting economic freedom, and investing in its people. Some observers believe this could become a model for other donor nations. The 16 countries (of 70 that are considered needy) making the cut for receiving aid: